Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

Shutting Down

What should you do when you’re finished using your computer for the moment?

Millions of people shut their PCs off, but they shouldn’t; it’s a colossal waste of time. When you shut down, you have to wait for all your programs to close—and then the next morning, you have to reopen everything, reposition your windows, and get everything back the way you had it.

You shouldn’t just leave your computer on all the time, either. That’s a massive waste of electricity, a security risk, and a black mark for the environment.

What you should do is put your machine to sleep. Usually, you do that by pressing the physical power button, and that’s that. If it’s a laptop, just close the lid.

The Sleep/Shut Down/Restart Commands

If you really want to do the sleeping or shutting down thing using the onscreen commands, you’ll have to learn their new locations.

For years, Microsoft was ridiculed for a peculiarity of the Windows design: To shut down your PC, you had to click a button called Start.

Not anymore. The “Shut down” command is now available in two places: in the Charms bar (TileWorld only), and in the secret menu (TileWorld and desktop).

• TileWorld. The “Shut down” command is in the Charms bar. You can see the official procedure in Figure 1-9.

  Tip

  If you have a keyboard, you can save yourself some steps. Press +I to open the Settings panel of the Charms bar; then click Power and then “Shut ...